Our berth at the Elizbeth Street Pier was directly opposite holiday apartments so we’d regularly strike up conversations with people as they sat on their balconies overlooking Escapade. Lucy provided a source of entertainment as she lay in the sun on the forward deck. They were especially interested with how we managed to lift her from the boat onto the pier, which depending on the tide, would be a 1.5 metre lift.
You would think being in Hobart you would not know anybody…wrong! Whilst Mark and I were cleaning the decks on Friday, James originally from Lakes Entrance dropped by to say hello. James, his wife and family live and work in Hobart. James’s father Terry would regularly drop by for a chat when we were tied up at Lakes Entrance with vegies from his garden and had told James that we were sailing down to Hobart, so James dropped by to say hello. Then there was Nigel who has a property in Metung and is currently living in Hobart. He had dropped by our shed several times to check on boat building progress. He was walking down the jetty and recognised the boat so came by to say hello.
The days were warming up with Monday’s top temperature reaching 34 degrees. Many thanks to Azz & Kym for the awesome job they did with our boom tent that provides shade for the entire cabin area of the boat. The boom tent along with the insulation that Mark installed helps keep the boat cool and comfortable – not that we were expecting to need it in Tasmania! We took it easy during the day but ventured out mid afternoon to play soccer with Lucy and check out a few more of the lovely gardens around Hobart.
Later in the day we were relaxing on the boat when we heard a splash behind our boat. On further inspection we noticed a cyclist in the water. He had ridden out on the pier and somehow overbalanced and fallen in the water. Thankfully the cyclist was OK and was able to climb up one of the pier ladders. As we considered offering to dive down to retrieve his bike a fisherman from one of the cray boats appeared with a grapple hook which they successfully used to retrieve the mountain bike.
On Australia day we caught a bus with our mountain bikes up to the top of Mt Wellington (Kunanyi) – I know I should have ridden up but it’s a 1.2km climb over 20km’s and I’m not as fit as I used to be. It was 0 degrees at the top and there was a 10-15 knot wind, so it was pretty crisp.
We rode down the first small section of the main road, where I discovered that my back brakes were not working, before branching off onto the north south mountain bike track. It was Georgie’s first serious mountain bike ride – she did an amazing job and was able to navigate the trail that at times was quite rocky and difficult. There were sections where Georgie and I would get off and walk whilst Mark continued riding.
On Wednesday we hired a car for the day and used it to stock up on provisions (Georgie’s final budget to be revealed in the next few days) and pick miscellaneous bits and pieces which we’ll need for re-antifouling the hull. The existing antifouling is holding up well but it needs to be raised slightly aft so we’ve booked in to lift out at Kettering on the 16th February.
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